Mizuto Hirota

Hatsu Hioki defeated Masanori Kanehara by unanimous decision in the first featherweight grand prix semifinal, but Hioki was unable to continue in the tournament due to a concussion suffered in the opening bout and was replaced by Kanehara. In the second semifinal contest, Michihiro Omigawa defeated Marlon Sandro by questionable “must decide” decision after the judge’s initially scored the fight a majority draw (30-30, 30-30, 30-29 Sandro).

Kanehara was crowned Sengoku’s first-ever featherweight champion by edging Omigawa by split decision in the grand prix final.

In other notable action, Kazuo Misaki scored a first-round submission of Kazuhiro Nakamura, Blagoi Ivanov, who defeated Fedor Emelianenko at the 2008 World Combat Sambo Championships, won his MMA debut by split decision, and fan-favorite Akihiro Gono suffered a third-round head kick knockout.

The official results for Sengoku 9 (Sengoku Ninth Battle) were:

• Mizuto Hirota def. Satoru Kitaoka (c) via TKO (strikes) — Round 4, 2:50
  Sengoku Lightweight Championship
• Masanori Kanehara def. Michihiro Omigawa via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-29 [Must Decision: Omigawa])
  Featherweight GP Final/Sengoku Featherweight Championship
• Kazuo Misaki def. Kazuhiro Nakamura via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 1, 3:03
• Blagoi Ivanov def. Kazuyuki Fujita via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-29 [Must Decision: Ivanov])
• Dan Hornbuckle def. Akihiro Gono via knockout (kick) — Round 3, 2:50
• Eiji Mitsuoka def. Clay Franch via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 1, 1:51
• Yoshihiro Nakao def. Mu Bae Choi via unanimous decision (30-28, 30-28, 30-29)
• Chan Sung Jung def. Matt Jaggers via submission (triangle choke) — Round 2, 1:25
  Featherweight GP Reserve bout
• Michihiro Omigawa def. Marlon Sandro via split decision (29-30, 30-30 [Must Decision: Omigawa], 30-30 [Must Decision: Omigawa])
  Featherweight GP Semifinal
• Hatsu Hioki def. Masanori Kanehara via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-27, 29-28)
  Featherweight GP Semifinal
• Ikuo Usuda def. Koji Ando via unanimous decision (20-19, 20-20 [Must Decision: Usuda], 20-19)
  Lightweight “Gold Cup” Final
• Ryosuke Komori def. Takeshi Numajiri via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 3:25
  Bantamweight “Gold Cup” Final
• Shigeki Osawa def. Toru Harai via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 4:24
  Featherweight “Gold Cup” Final

Pictured: Mizuto Hirota

• Former EliteXC lightweight champ KJ Noons will return to MMA in 2009, likely with Strikeforce.
• Dana White is featured on the cover of the first-ever UFC magazine.
• Former UFC fighter Lee Murray, who was accused of a record $92 million robbery in 2006 in the UK, was released from a Moroccan prison on Wednesday only to be re-arrested on Thursday to be tried under Moroccan law at the request of British authorities.
• According to rumors, Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans are likely to headline UFC 107 on December 19 in Las Vegas. Main events aren’t yet rumored for Fight Night 19 (September 16 – Oklahoma City),  UFC 105 (November 14 – Manchester, England), UFC 106 (November 21 – Las Vegas), or The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale (December 5 – Las Vegas).
• A possible headliner for one of the upcoming events is Chuck Liddell, with rumors swirling in recent days that the former UFC light heavyweight champ won’t retire and will instead return for at least one more bout, with Rich Franklin mentioned as a possible opponent.
• WEC and PFC lightweight veteran Poppies Martinez has signed  with Strikeforce and will make his debut at the promotion’s August 15 event featuring Gina Carano vs. Cris Cyborg.
• Perhaps in an attempt to dismiss rumors fueled by Diego Sanchez’s recent interview that he could pull out of his August 8 lightweight bout with Kenny Florian, BJ Penn’s latest video blog is brief, simply showing the UFC lightweight champ stepping on a scale and weight in at slim 166.8 pounds ahead of the 155-pound bout.
• In a recent interview with Knuckled Up, WEC lightweight contender Donald Cerrone, who has just one fight remaining on his current contract, says that a move to the UFC is possible and that he wants to fight Cole Miller.
• With his broken hand now healed, Houston Alexander is working on his ground game with veteran Jeremy Horn in preparation for a fall UFC return.
• Following the recent demise of Setanta, the UFC’s new television partner in the UK could be ESPN.
• Early UFC fighters Mikey Burnett and Pat Miletich could rematch at a to-be-announced Strikeforce event in Oklahoma.
• Weigh-ins for UFC 100 will take place at 7pm ET on Friday July 10 and will air live on MMAFrenzy.com.
• Yoshihiro Nakao vs. Choi Mu Bae and Clay French vs. Eiji Mitsuoka have been added to the card for Sengoku Ninth Battle, which takes place on August 2 in Saitama, Japan.
• Hopes to have MMA regulated in New York before year-end have been dashed after the 2009 legislative session ended earlier this week before a decision was made on the bill.
• Aleksander Emelianenko will take on Blagoi Invanov, the 2008 Combat Sambo champion who defeated his brother Fedor en-route to the title, at a September 29 event in South Korea.
• In an appearance on HDNet’s “Inside MMA,” Cyrille Diabate, who appeared as the Team US striking coach on the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter, says he expects to make his UFC debut this year.
• Lyoto Machida, Randy Couture, and Fedor Emelianenko are some of the fighters who could be featured in EA’s mixed martial arts video game.
• The UFC will return to Germany in early-2010, with an event scheduled for April in Oberhausen.
• PRIDE veteran Ricardo Arona will resume his career on September 12 in Brazil.
• The UFC awarded TUF 9 coaches Dan Hendersona and Michael Bisping new Land Rovers.
• Wanderlei Silva, who lost a close decision to Rich Franklin earlier this month at UFC 99, wants to fight twice more before the end of 2009.

[Pictured: Chuck Liddell]